Farm Shop & Deli Awards 2018: Expert Panel of Judges Announced

With entries now closed for the 2018 Farm Shop & Deli Awards, it looks like it will be another challenging year for the judging panel to decide the category, regional, newcomer and overall ‘Farm Shop & Deli Retailer of the Year’ finalists and winners

The 2018 awards received over 90 entries across the 12 categories, with 16 also entering the additional ‘Newcomer of the Year’ award - some of which only opened their doors in 2017!

How consumers can get involved…
The consumer voting is now well underway, with over 2,300 votes already received. This is an important stage of the judging process, which allows customers to vote online for their favourite retailer by Monday 31st October. All the votes will be evaluated by the judges, alongside the retailer’s online entry ahead of the judging day in November, when the deliberations begin to decide the finalists and winners.

Meet the 2018 Farm Shop & Deli Awards judges

In 2018, Farm Shop & Deli Awards will enter their 5th year in recognising the very best standards in the UK’s independent, specialist retail market. With an expert panel of judges joining Nigel Barden, chair of judges, the awards will celebrate the highest levels of service, product knowledge, initiative, innovation and community involvement, offered by our heroes of the high street.

Every November, food and drink broadcaster and journalist, Nigel Barden, and co-chair of judges and food writer, Elaine Lemm, are joined by experts from the world of speciality retail, fine food and food media to form the Farm Shop & Deli Awards judging panel.